Alligators and Blood
by RainbowDitoo
Summary: Allie Gator wasn't taking the illegal poaching of alligators from the local swamp too well... Is what Robin would say if she was around. She had practically dropped off the face of the map, which although was something she tended to do often, this time felt different. This time, it felt like she didn't want to be found or come back.


The couch wasn't comfortable, at least not in the position Robin was sitting on it in. His legs were swung over the back of the couch, his back on the seats themselves, and his head dangling upside down over the edge. He could see Clay working from across the floor, where he sat with his nose in a book. Robin frowned to himself. All Clay did nowadays was sit and read. No fun at all.

Robin slid down and off of the couch, letting the top of his head hit the floor and ungracefully somersaulting backwards the rest of the way. His ankle thunked against one of the coffee table's legs, and he hissed in a breath through his teeth. That hurt. It would probably hurt for a while, actually. He lay on the floor for a second, cursing the table, before rolling over and sitting up.

Now he could watch Clay do absolutely nothing from a more comfortable position. Robin would have smiled to himself if that was something he considered a success. It wasn't. He didn't.

A thought crossed his mind after a second of staring. "Hey Clay?"

Clay gave a noncommital grunt, letting Robin know that he was paying attention.

"Have you seen Allie around lately?"

There was an inhale, and then a slightly annoyed exhale from Clay's end. "No," He said, "Not after we got the news about that poacher. Kind of annoying that she keeps disappearing, but what can we do about it."

Robin nodded, knowing that Clay wasn't watching him, and huffed.

Poor Allie, that poacher had killed pretty much the only things that she considered family. At first, the knights wanted to help her out. Help her mourn in a good way, that sort of thing. But she insisted she was fine, if not a little cold towards everyone. Robin rested his head on his arms and frowned. Maybe that's why Clay was so upset, not that she was disappearing, but that she wouldn't let them help her.

If only Macy was around, she seemed to have a way of talking with Allie that the others couldn't replicate. But she was visiting the capitol, something about a bodyguard. Robin couldn't remember what exactly. Maybe he'd ask Clay while he was here, no point in getting up to bother anyone else. He opened his mouth to ask.

The Fortrex shuddered once as it rolled over something, forcing Robin's mouth shut and causing him to bite his tongue. Blood welled up in his mouth, and he coughed violently at the taste, causing Clay to whip around. Robin flinched at the look on Clay's face as he moved a hand under his lower lip to keep blood from dripping everywhere.

"Haha, don't worry," Robin said, hand failing to keep blood from spraying as he talked, "This- uh- it's no biggie. Happens all the time. I'll just-"  
"Did you bite your tongue or something?"

Robin looked at the splatters of crimson that covered the table, cringed, and settled on nodding. Clay huffed, stood, and helped Robin to his feet.

"Don't know how Jestro's gonna fix that one." He joked lightly. Robin rolled his eyes, and let Clay lead him out of the break room and into the kitchens.

He took the ice packet he was handed- ice packet was a little loose, it was really just a plastic bag with ice in it- and bit down to keep it in place. The bleeding in his mouth that was already slowing turned into a trickle, and then nothing at all. Yet Robin knew better than to pull it out yet, and he sat on the countertops as Clay went to get Jestro.

Not five seconds after Clay walked out, Ava walked in. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, but she had none of the summer charm her hairstyle portrayed. She noticed Robin on the counter, noticed the drying blood running from his mouth, and then decided to ignore him as she turned towards the fridge.

"You bite your tongue?" She eventually asked, grabbing an entire bag of baby carrots, "What'd you do this time, run into a doorway? Trip over your own feet when thinking about 'that cute guy you saw and even though you _know _you'll never see him again he was _the one_ you _swear_'?"

Robin glared at her and bit down onto the ice packet, letting the crunch covey his annoyance. She laughed a small, amused laugh, then kicked the fridge closed. A small hop later and she was on the counter opposite to Robin.

"Nah," She said, "I know you probably just bit it when we ran over that stupid boulder a couple seconds ago."

Robin rolled his eyes and picked at a spot where a cut on his fingers was scabbing over. Course she knew, she just wanted to mess with him. Mean of her to go after him like that too, especially when he and Axlina weren't exactly broken up yet. Things were weird between them at the moment. He wasn't sure if _he _was the one being weird with all his… _issues_ or if she just wasn't in the mood to talk to him anymore. He kicked his legs aimlessly, wishing Clay would hurry up.

Ava must have noticed how uncomfortable he suddenly got, and she huffed as she bit down onto a carrot.

"I _am _just messing with you, you know." She told him, "I don't mean any of that."

He hummed in acknowledgment, and an awkward silence followed where the only sounds were of Ava eating. A couple carrots later, and she spoke up again.

"We're heading over to the swamps. That poacher guy went missing from the local jail. They think he broke out and want us to investigate." She held up a misshapen carrot, squinted at it, then continued, "Good thing Allie isn't here with us. It'd suck for her to go back there without all of the animals. Kinda like a librarian leaving the library only to come back and every important book is gone from the shelves."

Robin gave a sad hum at that and nodded. By now the ice pack was melting against the warmth from his face, and freezer water dripped down into his open mouth.

"Do you even know where she is? We called Macy to see if she knew, and she didn't. It's not unlike her to go away for weeks at a time but… It's like she's dropped off the face of the map." Ava huffed and slumped against the counter, "Kill me for being worried, but she's kind of grown on me. I miss having to beat her away from the main console once a day."

There was a snort at that, and Ava only glared at Robin to shut up. It wasn't like Robin didn't feel the same though. Having Allie around to scold had become a part of everyone's schedule whether they meant it to or not. Maybe, Robin thought, That was the reason Clay was so anxious and on edge. Because he didn't have Allie to watch out for. It was strange how she had weasled her way into their lives.

The doors to the kitchen slid open with a small whoosh. Ava put her carrots down at the noise and frowned a little bit.

In walked Clay with Jestro in tow, who gestured vaguely at Robin.

"I don't know how bad he bit it," Clay started, "But it was bleeding everywhere. I sent Lance to go clean up the blood before it stained in the lounge."

Jestro shuddered, ignoring Ava putting the carrots back, "Knowing he's squeamish about that sort of stuff?"

"Eh," Clay shrugged and offered a hand to help Robin off of the counter, "I thought he looked like he was in the mood to clean. Apparently things have been tight between him and his family lately."

Jestro hummed and cupped Robin's head in his hands. A couple seconds later and Jestro craned his head around to look at Clay.

"Yeah he did look tense. Wondered what was going on."

"Izzy said it's like standing between two bears." Robin said around the slowly healing cut on his tongue and the ice pack in his mouth, "All the violent tension. Stuff like that."

Ava shut the fridge with a small huff and began to pick at her teeth absently.

"I'm glad that she's not involved directly," She said, "But I don't think it's good for her to be caught in the middle of it either."

She paused, "I- uh- I guess I worry about her."

"Oh do you?"

Robin was punched on the shoulder for that, and he grumbled. But still, he couldn't complain. His tongue was A-Okay now, which meant he could go back to doing nothing in peace. So long as the Fortrex kept on rolling and-

The Fortrex stopped suddenly, causing the pots and pans hanging from hooks on the walls to clatter together in a way that made Robin's ears and head hurt. He covered his ears instinctively and flinched, waiting for Clay to put a hand on his shoulder to signify that the sound had stopped.

Ava scowled at the ceiling, "I thought I fixed that rough breaking mechanism." She grumbled to herself. "Sorry, Robin. I know you don't like sounds like that. Should've fixed that."

Robin's fingers twitched at his side as he recovered from the noise, "No, you're fine. It just caught me off guard."

Clay nodded at that, his pupils contracted into slits. Probably meaning that the noise had freaked him out too, even if he didn't really show it in the same way Robin did.

"You can work on the programming later," Clay said, "Right now we have a job to do."

* * *

Robin stood ankle deep in gross, muddy water. He just knew that all that work polishing his armor had instantly gone to waste. It made him cringe at the thought of having to clean it all again every step he took.

So far, the Nexo Knights had only been in the swamp once before, and that was when they had first met Allie. But back then they had had her to show them where the ground was more stable. Now they just had to figure things out by trial and error.

Robin flinched at the loud squelching sound of someone pulling their foot out of a particularly bad patch of mud.  
"Ok, this spot is a bad one!" He heard Lance call as another squelch sounded through the swamp, "This spot is a really bad one! I am officially done with this stupid place!"

Robin saw Clay roll his eyes. Clay probably had it the worst, as his cape had been torn off by a fallen log early into the mission.

"Do I have to tell you again that the mud is the least of our problems?" Clay huffed, "First of all, we're on unfamiliar territory. And second of all, the security told us that they're still working on finding all the traps. Just watch your step from now on and you should be fine."  
"You say that every time I get stuck," Lance whined back, "I feel like nature is just out to get me!"

"Maybe it is, with all the whining you're doing." Robin mumbled under his breath, which received him a laugh from Ava on the other end of the communications line. He smiled at that, proud that he could do what hardly anybody else could do, which was to make her actually laugh.

A couple more minutes of treading through thickening mud, and Clay stopped with a small huff. As he stood still, he sunk into the mud.

"Ok," He admitted finally, "This isn't getting us anywhere."

The knights stopped, Axl and Robin shuffling their feet to keep from sinking.

"So what," Axl asked, "We turn back?"

Clay shook his head with a frustrated huff, "No, that'd mean we wasted our time out here. And we can't go back empty handed."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Jestro asked gently, sinking halfway up his calves in mud.

"Well…" Clay trailed off and frowned, "I guess I could… uh-"

"Could what?" Jestro offered.

"Well, I _could_ turn one of you into something different and have that person look on ahead. But the only person here that's comfortable with me doing that is Robin. And I'm not sure I want him going on alone with all the traps still set, especially if he wouldn't be human."

Robin perked up at the idea. Clay's magic was specialized around transmutation thanks to how it was awakened, and that meant that Clay could turn one thing into another thing perfectly and without breaking a sweat. And yeah, the other knights hadn't liked being test subjects when Clay was first learning, but Robin didn't mind being something else. He shifted his feet a few times to keep himself from sinking.

"I can do it," Robin said, "And I won't go far if that's what you're worried about. Plus, we haven't run into anything since coming here."

He paused after he spoke. They hadn't run into _anything _since they had got there. It was only now that he was noticing it, but there wasn't even a bird in the sky, or a frog chirping in the water. It was eerily silent.

Clay was silent too for a moment, and huffed.

"Ok fine, but absolutely don't go too far from this spot in any direction."

Clay began squelching himself over towards his brother almost agonizingly slowly. All that time standing still must've stuck him in the mud really good.

Finally, Clay managed to put his right hand on Robin's shoulder.

"Remember," Clay said, "Don't go too far."

"Got it." Robin responded with a smile.

And the next moment he was a small bluebird, sitting cupped in Clay's palm. Robin gave himself a quick look over and gave what he could only hope was a determined look at his brother before fluttering up and away.

Flying wasn't something Robin hadn't done before, in fact, he asked Clay to let him do it quite often. The feeling of the wind rushing by and under feathers just felt… right to him to an extent. He closed his eyes against the warm wind and just let the air drafts carry him for a moment, before opening his eyes and flapping a quick few times.

Despite how much land he was covering, Robin still wasn't able to see any sign of life. No other birds winging beside him, and no life in the water below. It was like everything was hiding. But from what? Robin banked left and looked below for any sign of human life among the swamp water and trees. Nothing. A few more minutes and nothing. Robin was starting to get annoyed.

Couldn't this guy have left something for them to track them by? Like a trail of breadcrumbs that led to a- A house!

Robin squinted against the wind to make sure he was seeing things right, and his heart leapt in his chest was he realized he was. A small, beat down wooden house stood sitting on an island in the middle of the swamp. Robin flapped as hard as he could, trying to get to it as fast as possible.

Yet as he drew closer, Robin began to slowly realize where all the animals had gone. There they were, surrounding the house on every surface available. Dozens and dozens of spoonbills and kingfishers alike sat on branches surrounding the house. Frogs covered the walls of the house, turtles crowded the island's edges, making it near impossible to get onto it normally.

But all the other animals didn't compare to the alligators. Dozens and dozens of them stood, crowding around the entrance of the house. They were stacked on top of each other in certain places, their tails intertwining.

Robin fluttered in place nervously for a second, and watched as a cluster of birds moved to make room for him on a windowsill. He flew to join them with a sense of caution. This was wrong, all of it felt way too wrong. Like he was invading a secret meeting of sorts.

He looked into the rotting house, and tried not to make a noise.

Bloodied steel traps hung from every surface, cages on the floors and wires draping down from the rafters. In the center of the room crouched a familiar girl with bright green hair. Underneath her was then body of the man that they had been sent to capture, his organs laying around him in traditional hunting style.

The girl, Allie, slowly turned to make eye contact with Robin. She knew he was human. She _knew_. Her pupils were a strange, shimmering teal and red color, like that of a feral animal.

"_You know,_" She said, "_Nature reclaims anything taken from it. It takes and consumes and maintains the balance._"

Her voice was strange, and sounded like the words were forced. She sounded throaty and hoarse. Tired, but also busy. It was like she wasn't herself. Robin shrunk into himself as she continued.

"_It reclaims anything taken from it. Even if the thing taken was the lives of animals. Nature will reset the balance. Even if the thing taken was a human girl, a human girl who was given to dirt beneath your feet to be ripped from it again. Nature will reclaim. It will reclaim._"

Robin, for the first time, noticed the blood on her hands. It was dark, mixed with dirt and god knew what else. He gave Allie a fearful look, to which she only threw her head back and laughed loudly. At her cue, the animals in the area started causing a ruckus.

"_You should leave, Little Bird._" She said in a mocking tone, "_Or nature'll reclaim you too._"

With a spike of terror in his heart, Robin turned and took off into the sky. He knew that the animals behind him weren't following, but that didn't stop him from flying as fast as he could back to the mainland.

He couldn't tell anyone about this. He wasn't sure why he couldn't, but he felt that something bad would happen if he did.

* * *

It was a week later that Allie walked into the Fortrex, back to her normal nonsense like nothing had happened. The unnatural glow from her eyes was gone, and she was talking like herself again, but that didn't stop Robin from feeling nervous around her. In fact, he was actually actively avoiding her.

Every time she was in the room, Robin left. Every time he heard her messing around in the walls, he moved as far away as possible.

She acted like nothing had happened, and that made Robin feel like maybe he was overreacting. Maybe it had all been some sort of weird, lucid dream. That she hadn't murdered that man in cold blood, and that she hadn't lost her weird accent as she spoke in riddles.

That she hadn't been something else.

But Robin wasn't able to avoid her for long.

He flinched as Allie dropped down next to him from the ceiling, and tried not to make eye contact when she leaned down.

"So y'are avoidin' me then." She said, standing back up straight, "The hell're you doin' that for?"

Robin stared at his work for a second, then looked up at her. He half expected her eyes to have that weird shine to them, but no. She was 100% Allie.

"Do you… Not remember what happened?" He asked finally.

"Pardon?"  
"Back in the swamp." Robin explained, "In the house? Do you not remember what happened?"

Allie's confused look dropped into a more serious one. She looked up at the ceiling and rocked back and forth on her heels.

"Ah." She said, "That."

"You remember it then?" Robin asked, sitting up straighter. So he wasn't insane. That was good to hear.

Allie half-shrugged, "Not really. That jus' happens sometimes when I get really mad abou; some stuff. Or when I'm stuck n'the damn city for too long. M'head gets all fuzzy."

Robin frowned, "What does that mean?"

"Means I thought about killin' the damn bastard really hard, n'wake up later w'his fuckin' corpse under me. The details of what happened r'fuzzy, I can't make shit out, Robin! Th'hell d'you think I meant!"

He flinched at her outburst, and she quickly tried to remedy it.

"Shit, sorry. I jus'-" She huffed and picked at one of the many band-aids on her arms, "I sorta know why it happens, but I ain't proud of it. N'it's scary to have gaps in my memory, Y'get me?"

Robin nodded slowly at that, but looked away from her. It was dumb of him to be this nervous around her even after she had explained it, but something felt like it was missing.

"Uh, sorry for asking but," Robin fidgeted, "You seriously thought about killing him? That part was you?"

She blinked, and then scowled. But the scowl wasn't directed at him, and Robin relaxed slightly.

"I know that y'all're all upholdin' the law n'that but… t'hear that parts of your family, even th'ones y'didn't know, are dead? That shit ain't peaches n'cream, Robin. I did want him dead for what he did. I wanted to be th'one to do it too. I wanted to avenge th'critters that had been m'family for pretty much my entire life. Y'can't blame me for that, can ya?"

She sighed and sat down, "That's where th'gap is, I was thinkin' that- which trust me, I never woulda gone through w'if I had had a clear head- and I wake up later. W'only fuzzy memories of what happened. But the wantin' to murder part was me. It was only revenge, ain't nothin' more or less."

Robin looked at her and tried desperately to find any trace of what he had seen a week ago, but she was just tired. And scared. Robin looked down.

"I think… I think that maybe you shouldn't have thought that stuff in the first place, with him caught and all," He started, "But I can't say that you were wrong for thinking that stuff. And it wasn't your fault- what happened, I don't think it was you from what you told me. And sorry for avoiding you for so long."

Allie perked up, her unnaturally green eyes sparkling slightly, "Y'mean it?"

"Mean what? My apology or the other stuff?"

"All of it."

Robin nodded, "Yeah, I do. It was shitty of me to avoid you like that, especially when you're having troubles."

Allie moved to perch on her toes like a cat, then stood up with a bounce of her heels. A smile was slowly spreading over her face.

"You're admittin' that you're wrong." She said in a starstruck fashion, "I must be dead."

"Yeah yeah," Robin waved her off, "Whatever. You're not dead. I'm actually being nice to you."

Allie laughed, "Nah, I'm not dead." She dropped onto all fours before starting to climb back up the wall and into the vents where she liked to hang out, "Used to be though! Tell y'that one later, Bird Boy!"

And with that she was gone. Which honestly raised a bit more questions than Robin felt like dealing with at the moment.


End file.
